Roses are RedViolets are Blue…. apparently…. Even though they're called violets. I mean, violet means purple not blue so there's some sort of mistake here... and what was I talking about? Oh yea…

ILOVEGRAVITY FALLS!

If there's a show that manages to balance fear, mystery, emotion, world building, action, and comedy together so masterfully into one cartoon it would be Gravity Falls. In fact… a year and a half ago I dedicated my first true video review to the show counting down my favorite to least favorite episodes back when there was only 13 episodes. Back then I said that even my least favorite episode was beyond the standards of most cartoons and there's no bad episode of the show. There are 25 episodes now (still counting) and I still stand by that. And you know what, it's about time I talk about my favorite currently running show again, give me a random episode? The Golf War. Sure, let's do it.

Mabel takes the gang mini-golfing, where it's revealed that she has a gift for the sport. Everyone's happy until they find out that Pacifica has her beat. Ugh, Pacifica.

The birds fly south because you go north.

They agree to compete to settle the golf debate once and for all when the course is closed. Dipper and Mabel come earlier to practice and there they come across the Lilliputtians, who control the balls. Each hole has a different race of lilliputians and each race competes against the other to prove who reigns supreme. They see Mabel's sticker and they feel that that sticker will work as a trophy. So Dipper and Mabel agree to give the sticker to whichever race helps Mabel win the most in the game.

The story is simple but fun. This episode is a filler episode, giving us a break in between the intensity of Into the Bunker and the epic-ness of Sock Opera and it works as a nice break. A lot about this episode reminds me of the earlier episodes when it wasn't as much about the mystery and storyline and more about the character and though I prefer the format of the newer episodes going back to your roots is pretty cool once in a while.

The animation also looks incredible. The golf course has all of these different holes so it gives us several different environments to look at. The pirate's hole, the windmill's hole, the miner's hole, and complimented with all of the different colored lights (though considering it's only open during the day I don't' even know why they have those lights) gives us so many different colors.

I love color and this episode has a lot of it.

Mabel takes the spotlight in this episode and it deals with her rivalry with Pacifica, and what she's willing to do to beat her. Dipper suggests using the Lilliputtians because, quoting Dipper, "She's rich, she cheats at life". This episode doesn't take these characters to new heights, but it wasn't really supposed to. Mabel learns her lesson that an honest defeat is more satisfying then a dishonest victory, but I do have a slight problem with how the moral is presented.

"Well, maybe rivalries are dumb, and the only way to truly be the best is to stop the fighting first".

I personally disagree with what it's saying though I see where it's coming from. I think rivalries can be beneficial because they can push you to become better, but when you take shortcuts to become the better person you lose that victory. But this episode flat out states that 'rivalries are dumb'. I guess rivalries are often looked upon as bad by the community so maybe ether were just playing it safe for the kids. Maybe it's just my point of view and it isn't a bad moral, just too much of a safe moral in my opinion.

But this episode does one thing that I never thought the show would do successfully. THEY - MAKE - PACIFICA- BEARABLE!

Ok…. she still isn't one of my favorite characters but they manage to give her some backstory with her inattentive and competitive parents. I know people who become kind of jerk-ish and over competitive because they have competitive parents and that's what is expected of her and though it isn't necessarily the most original backstory it does work as a little gateway to give her more room to grow. And she does have some funny lines, especially when dealing with her coach Sergei.

"SERGEI OVERBOARD!"

"I'll get a new one".

Sergei is awesome. He's completely awesome yet he can't catch a break. He gives this episode a fun edge.

I believe this is the defining trait of this episode. Fun, which is a great thing to have. Now for the final rankings…

Wait, I almost forgot about the Lilliputtians. I wonder why? Anyway, I love these guys. There are so many different ones of them and they give this energy to the episode. They kind of remind me of the gnomes….. huh…… in fact, yea, they DO remind me of the gnomes.

"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Little People

The leader of the Lilliputtians has the same voice of the leader of the gnomes

The episode ends with a golf cart chase

The leader vows revenge at the end of the episode

They're both pretty pathetic and get defeated by simple things.

Oh my goose, the lilliputians and parts of the episode as a whole is a retelling of the first episode!

That….. that's kind of a big problem. Yea, I lied at the beginning, I didn't choose a random episode to review, I reviewed this episode with intentions of point this out. Do I think the show makers purposely tried to rehash the first episode, no. It's easy to accidentally use story elements you have used in the past, I do that a few times with my own cartoon without even noticing. So it isn't a malicious issue, but it's still a grating issue on the episode that keeps me from truly supporting it despite how much I want to. This is my least favorite episode mostly because I can't see it without thinking 'Tourist Trapped' and even looking at the things that sets this episode apart, it just doesn't stand out when compared to the brilliance in season 2. It isn't even the funniest filler episode of the season, that goes to 'Soos and the Real Girl'. This is nowhere near a bad episode but unfortunately, I can't put it anywhere near the show's best either. Still looks great though.

Story - 59/100 - Good for a simple episode, but there are scenes that remind me of 'Tourist Trapped' and the moral could've been stated better. The emotion they conjure up in this episode, though it's a nice starting point, doesn't bring anything new to the table and really, the story as a whole fails to stand out. Character - 63/100 - It doesn't take the main characters to any big heights but that's fine, but they just don't' have that many memorable moments. Pacifica, though a character that annoys me from time to time, has improved greatly and Sergei works nicely. But, the lilliputians, though giving them different species' is an interesting twist, but they could've done more to set them apart… like finding the leader a new voice actor. I like the voice actor but he doesn't disguise his voice that well here. Animation - 84/100 - Colorful and Vibrant. Comedy - 81/100 - This episode does succeed in it's doses of comedy.

Overall-

71.75/100

Good

For the life of me I can't call this episode bad because in my eyes, it really isn't. The worst of Gravity Falls is still better than the best of most shows like modern Spongebob and other nicktoons. This episode does a lot of things I like and though there's one glaring problem that keeps me from truly getting into the episode, I can't overlook the multiple good things this episode does as well. As a story of it's own it's good, but as a Gravity Falls episode this is kind of a disappointment.